The Hobbyist #13: An Interview with Daniel Bateman of Frog
The songwriter and set decorator chats about films and making music all day long
Photo by Jarod A. Walker; graphic design by Thomas Euyang
I don’t think my interview with Frog’s Daniel Bateman was necessarily contentious but it didn’t flow all that freely and at one point I chuckled about the irony of something and he said he didn’t think the thing I found funny was all that funny. It was a little bit awkward, but then I brought up the concept of “movies” and he seemed much more eager to talk about that than the mechanisms of the music industry or balancing a steady indie band with gigs as a set decorator and life as a father. Though the interview wasn’t the best I’ve ever conducted, it genuinely taught me a thing or two about my style, and I found that when I would follow up on specifics he would be more willing to offer up his insight. Generalities are a conversation ender. That’s not unique to this interview. It’s easy to say “yeah” to something open-ended. I conducted my first interview 17 or so years ago, when I was 15 years old. It’s really cool that I’m still learning how to get better at this. When editing the transcription for this interview, I wasn’t as bad as I remembered, either. A nice consolation.
Anyways, I wanted to talk to Bateman about Frog because he is the prototypical Hobbyist guest. Like I mentioned, his band, Frog, is pretty successful. They sold out a show last month at Bowery Ballroom in NYC, which is a pretty good measuring stick in my book.
His brother, Steve, plays drums. He joined the group for the brilliant 2023 album, Grog, and replaced the band’s original drummer, Tom White. So, Frog is a family affair but it’s been Daniel’s baby since he dropped his self-titled project under the moniker back in 2013. As the project has gotten more successful, Bateman has balanced playing shows, traveling, and doing all the music business stuff with his day job as a freelance set decorator in the film industry. He also has twins
Bateman insists that he is writing songs all day, every day, and the free flowing, almost preternatural gift he has for hook writing and lyricism suggests there’s not an ounce of exaggeration in this claim. His songs sound like they were transmuted from his brain directly to wax or digital files — however you listen to music these days. The transition from ideation to final product is seamless. Take “STILLWELL THEME,” the opening cut from 2025’s 1000 Variations on the Same Song, a lurching piano ballad with a pre-chorus and hook that sound like they have been around for 1,000 years, sung by everyone from The Beatles to Little Wings. It’s almost primordial, and I mean that as the highest compliment imaginable. To put it another way: 1000 Variations is an album you need to listen to immediately; so urgently that I have embedded it just beneath this introduction, replacing my usual “CTA” for this newsletter. I’m offering up precious real estate for this album because it’s that good. This is serious business.
I am a Frog devotee, even more so after having this conversation with Bateman. It was rocky at times, but like all good people in this great world, Daniel really opened up when we chopped it up about Pedro Almodóvar. As he explained to me: “I love film.” Me too, brother.
You do Frog and have a full time job so I thought you’d be a perfect subject for The Hobbyist.
Daniel Bateman: Yeah, I don't know, man. I keep trying. It’s not like a protected skillset, it's just to get the reps in.
It's just like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it.
DB: Exactly. Mr. Will.
What do you do for work?
DB: I work in the film business.
Can you reveal what you do?
DB: I don't think it exists. Sometimes I work as a set decorator.
Do you work for a company or do you work for yourself?
DB: In the film business you're always a contractor.
Are you working on independent films? Big budget? Are you part of a union?
DB: I work on some jobs that are for big companies. I can’t go deep on the companies or any specifics but I like making art for money. I like that aspect of it.
Does it satisfy a creative itch?
DB: That's not why I'm doing it, but in some ways, yeah.
Talk to me a bit about writing songs.You’re decorating sets, you're not 9 to 5 I imagine. You have kids, you have all these other things. What does a day look like when you're on set?
DB: Wake up at 4:30, get there at 6:00 AM. I’m done at 5ish, come back home, take care of the kids, then bedtime and the work begins.
That sounds extremely exhausting.
DB: No, it's beautiful. Kids are good. Bills are paid. That's what matters. Well, getting to some of those bills. Some of them are being gotten to.
Are you writing music every night?
DB: I write music every moment.
Even when you don’t have a guitar or in front of a piano?
DB: Yes.
That’s beautiful. How long was 1000 Variations marinating before you recorded it?
DB: The songs that you hear on the record, those were recorded very quickly. But me and Steve started making a lot of music together in a lot of different ways. Those are the variations. It's me and Steve doing this and this is the first batch, but there's a lot more there and it's turning out pretty good. I'm having fun with it.
That’s what matters most.
DB: Yeah, exactly. Now you're getting it.
I'm feeling the vibe.
DB: Oh, you're cooking with gas, let's go.
Once Steve came into the fold, did it begin feeling like a different entity than what you were doing earlier on?
DB: It's different every day.
I could have guessed that'd be the answer. Are you guys sending things back and forth? Are you trading voice notes, things like that?
DB: Voice notes? Not really, no. If I mix something down I'll give it to the boys, but I'm always making music. All the time. You have to come hang out with me if you want to hear it.
Are you still in New York?
DB: I bought a house in New Rochelle.
Do you have a home studio?
DB: Yeah, in a different house. There's a little studio where me and Steve make music together.
Has moving to an industry where you're sort of creating your own schedule allowed you to focus more on Frog or focus on it in a different way?
DB: Yeah, definitely. I have more time. This is work to me. Life requires sacrifice. If you want to do something, you have to work hard.
Have you always had this perspective? Where art is work?
DB: Before, it was my hobby. I liked that a lot. Then various things happened and it had to be my hobby and my part-time job too. And now my full-time job, but I have another full-time job, so it is a little bit more complicated because the part of it that I like is the making music part. Everything else is about the business. The business, I'm learning more about it. It's so stupid.
What do you do when you're not working on this job or your other job? Is there anything you like doing, or is it just strictly kids time, then music and then your other job?
DB: Family time is beautiful. Yeah. You ever had four year old kids? You just destroy the house and then clean it up. That's sort of what you do and you enjoy that. It’s fun.
Do you have any goals with your non-musical day job in film, outside of just paying bills? Is there something you want to achieve with that work?
DB: Yes and no. I love film. I love working on films. The film business right now is screwed up a little bit.
It's as fucked as the music business is, if not more.
DB: Yeah, it's a little bit nuts. The business side of it is changing a lot and there's not as much work. It's pretty dumb, pretty annoying, but hopefully it's changing. Who knows? I’m making tunes though. You gotta diversify.
Is Frog more successful financially than ever before?
DB: There's not much money in any of it. That's what I would say. 'm trying to figure that part out now and things are going much better than they used to, so that's good. You’ve got to fail a lot. Failing creates opportunities for you to learn. That's what we are doing here. If you fail enough times, you're going to try something different.
I know you said you love film. Who are some of your favorite filmmakers?
DB: I love so many filmmakers. I love Pedro Almodóvar. I love Jacques Tati. RIP David Lynch. Love him. I love Hitchcock. I love Tampopo.
That movie is so great.
DB: Yeah, that's one of the best movies ever made.
Do you like ramen?
DB: Yeah. Especially in the winter. It’s been a very good ramen season. I used to live in Harlem. We used to go to this place that only sold ramen and cocktails. It was pretty good.
What was your go-to cocktail there?
DB: Something with gin. I like Buñuel. That's another one of my favorite filmmakers ever. And he wrote an autobiography and a lot of the autobiography is just, he loves drinking, so he talks about how he makes this perfect martini and he is very funny. I love his autobiography. That's great writing. All of his films are amazing. Every single one.
You're making me want to go watch movies now.
DB: L'Age d'Or. That’s a good one. I like when the hand turns over and it looks totally unexpected. It's a little bit deformed or something and the whole sequence is so unforgettable to me. Those are beautiful images. He's such a genius. He's so amazing.
Who else excites you that way?
DB: All the filmmakers I mentioned, they all excite me that way. I love comedies. I love Dumb and Dumber. I love great comedies.
Dumb and Dumber is one of my favorite movies of all time.
DB: I think it's maybe the best American movie ever made.
Do you have similar passions for other musicians?
DB: Yes, of course. Who doesn't? I love classical music. I love Mozart. I love everything he ever did. I have all of his music, all of it. And I've listened to most of it. I like to play him a lot and I love Charlie Parker. I love all of his music too. I love every single thing he's ever done. I like Lil Wayne. I like Malkmus. I can't say a good soundbite. There's a lot there. You're trying to get me to do a soundbite.
No, not at all. That is the last thing I’m trying to do. You have a third brother. Does he feel bad about not being in the band?
DB: Wow. Where did you read that?
In an interview.
DB: Did I say that?
Yeah. You said your brothers are both a lot taller than you, but you smoked cigarettes and they stunted your growth.
DB: Yeah, I guess that did happen. The third brother is the best. He is a doctor.
That's good to have in the family. You can go to him with all your questions, things like that.
DB: Very useful.
Yeah. Have you started rehearsing for the tour yet?
DB: Yeah, a couple times. It's all about making music all the time. If you want to really do something well you have to be doing it all the time.
It's kind of the shitty thing about art too though, because you can't do it all the time. You have to make money and do other things.
DB: But I'm doing it while I'm doing all the other things.
Not everyone has that skill.
DB: Once you start doing that, amazing things can happen. You'll make music you like. That's really all of it. There’s nothing else there. Maybe someone else will like it too.